Yoga for Bulimia | Yoga Therapy

[Edit: A few readers have been curious as to what inspired this post. Usually for all my other therapy posts, I have a little blurb to introduce it. And for this post, I had originally left it blank. Why? Because I wasn’t so sure I was comfortable in publicly posting this where it will be forever shared on the Internet. Because I still carry a shadow of shame for my years suffering from bulimia and body image issues. So I decided to leave it blank. I’m not lying if I’m not saying, right?

But with a sigh of relief, I’ve been encouraged to share this. I did. I was once a sufferer of both anorexia and then, recovering from that, bulimia. On and off for 10 years. But God worked His miracles, as He always does and He healed me. Healing wasn’t easy but if you believe it will happen, it will.

Now that I’ve revealed this. I can probably conjure up enough courage to share a little more but in another post. All this post is about is how Holy Yoga CAN actually help in the journey of eating order recovery. And yes, I know how this feels.]

SPECIFIC ISSUEBulimiaTHE BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR THIS ISSUE (SYMPTOM CONTROL)

Particularly for sufferers of eating disorders, yoga can help relieve and bring healing to the sufferers. Here we narrow the study into Bulimics – characterised by those who consuming large amounts of foods in a short amount of time, following by ‘purging’ either through self-induced vomiting or the use of laxatives, commonly resulting from an overwhelming sense of guilt and fear of gaining weight after the excessive food intake. Bulimics are frequently associated with other mental disorders such as anxiety and depression.

A *study carried out in Australia showed that bulimics who engaged in a 12-week yoga program self-reported reductions in binge eating and increased their physical activity, and a small number of them saw reductions in BMI.

Firstly, the spiritual benefits of Holy Yoga for relieving bulimic tendencies is to help the sufferers find peace and comfort in Christ. Starting from this pivotal change in belief can help bulimics realise or reduce the need to ‘purge’ after a binge-eating session through acceptance. From there, they may find it easy to start relying on God’s grace and love for comfort in lieu of the need a ‘binge’ for comfort and satisfaction.

Different breathing techniques adapted to individual circumstances can help the sufferer learn to cope with anxiety. Through deep breathing, which sends signals to the brain for the body to relax, it gives the sufferers an opportunity to reflect and face the root causes of their eating disorder instead of escaping them. By addressing the deep-seated issues which are causing the disorders does the sufferer stand a chance of healing and recovering in a sustainable way.

Deep stretching and staying in a certain challenging yoga poses can help bulimics understand and deal with managing temptation. By training the brain and body to find ways of adapting to a challenging situation, a bulimic can learn the techniques and coping mechanisms to manage the next bout of ‘binge’ temptation.

Most importantly, Holy Yoga promotes the importance of handing over the willingness to be healed over to God than the ‘willpower’ of our selves to change the habit, addiction or disorder. Perhaps that willpower was the very culprit that got the bulimic into the disorder in the first place. So, trusting the willpower is a risky choice.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

1. If diagnosed by medical practitioner as to having low blood pressure, avoid any reclining positions.

2. If suffering from reflux, avoid any poses that inverts the upper body such as standing forward fold.

3. If BMI is under a healthy range and protruding bones are causing pain in certain poses, seek advice from yoga therapist on how to modify poses or whether it is safe to participate.

*Disclaimer:
These suggestions offered in the Holy Yoga With LoveJosephine yoga classes or therapy programs on www.lovejosephine.com are not intended to replace medical recommendations by your medical practitioners. It is highly recommended and, in most cases, essential that you stay compliant to the treatment advice given by a western medical professional.
The suggestions and educational resource offered by Holy Yoga with LoveJosephine on www.lovejosephine.com are meant to be observed and used in conjunction with medical treatment. Neither the therapy programs nor yoga classes are designed nor recommended to replace medical treatment.

The resources offered here are intended to complement and support the medical treatment targeting the specified issue, with the goal of enhancing the well-being of the patient.

2 thoughts on “Yoga for Bulimia | Yoga Therapy”

Hi M, guess what? I didn’t really want to share before but YOU, YOU encouraged me to share it. Somehow your comment touched my heart and I thought I should do what I normally do with the other Therapy posts and put up my blurb on introducing it and the background.

And so I just updated the post. Long story short…what inspired this is that I suffered from eating disorders for 10 years. I am fully recovered now but there are times when I still kick into ‘food obsession’ mode and weighing myself like crazy mode. But being Christian and finding in God, accepting that He created us all differently, has been the biggest game changer for me.

Thank YOU for your comment. Thank YOU for inspiring me to update my post.